The present invention relates in general to voltage and current distribution devices, and more particularly to such devices which are capable of uniformly distributing current and voltage to a plurality of individual electrical circuit components.
Uniform or balanced distribution of current and voltage is desirable in a variety of situations. One such situation involves transient voltage surge suppressor systems, wherein unequal power loading of multiple surge suppression components reduces the effectiveness of the system, and causes excessive stress on the more heavily loaded components, which results in premature failure of those components. However, prior surge suppression systems have not provided for uniform distribution of current and voltage to the individual components making up the system. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,160 to Riley discloses a transient voltage suppression assembly wherein each of a plurality of voltage suppression devices (VSDs) mounted on a grounded conductor plate is connected to a separate conductor extending through the assembly. Riley is concerned only with minimizing the parasitic inductance of each VSD, and no provision is made for providing a common voltage/current to the plural VSDs.
Another electrical protector assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,917,982 to George et al. In the George et al. device, plural protective devices are mounted in longitudinally spaced sections of the assembly, and a shunt lead of each protective device is connected to a ground bus member extending beneath the protective devices. Consequently, the various protective devices have unequal circuit paths to ground.